Examination
by NoOneImportantHere
Summary: In a laboratory deep within Sector Seven, Kokonoe and her patient snark at each other. There's only so many jokes about gaping holes, gross parents and terrible childhoods you can make before you start realizing you might be sick in the head though. If you ever realize it at all anyway.
1. Examination 10

This entire situation was moronic. Completely idiotic. How did this situation even happen and why? What god did he piss off to get to this point and where could he find them and exact horrible vengeance? In summation, Carl wasn't having a fun day.

"You feeling alright Carl?"

"Feeling awful Professor Kokonoe."

"Excellent." Carl was sitting in a Sector Seven laboratory, somewhere hidden away underground. His body was covered in wires and several medical apparatuses that were monitoring his vitals. He was shirtless, itchy and all around uncomfortable. His eye, well hole where his left eye should be, was the worst, covered in so many attachments and gizmos that thinking on them all made Carl dizzy. Ada, who would ordinarily save her sweet brother from this cruel fate, was absolutely no help. She was stoically standing next to Professor Kokonoe behind the big glass window, watching her brother's torment without even an ounce of protest. The traitor was stroking a puppy without a care in the world! He'd been sold out for a Shiba Inu named Taro! "We'll now begin the questioning. You gonna be a good little boy and not cause a fuss?"

"Is my consent required to proceed?"

"You gave us your consent when you illegally obtained Sector Seven property and continued to be a pain in the ass after you found out what you were stupidly running around with."

"My Sister is not your property."

"I beg to differ." Ada proceeded to pet Taro as Kokonoe gave the automation a pat on her metal head. "Alright Mr. Clover, question one. Where did you get Nirvana?"

"Ada." Kokonoe rolled her eyes, licking the lollipop in her mouth with an air of annoyance.

"Where did you get ADA?"

"My Father abandoned her at our home. I saved her." Carl scratched the wires on his arm, finding the itch incredibly distracting. He didn't need to feel anymore uncomfortable. He could see Kokonoe jot down something on a what he assumed was a notepad. He couldn't tell from this side of the window.

"Two. Where'd you learn to fight?"

"The Academy."

"They don't teach what you do at the Academy, dropout. Try again."

"...My Father taught me." Another note on the pad. The itch was slowly getting stronger. Taro licked Ada's face. She seemed rather happy about that, for someone without the capabilities to express joy.

"Three. Where'd you get the outfit?"

"My closet "

"Huh. Your family has weird taste." Another note. Carl could see the cat beastkin scratch her ears. It made his own itch even worse. These damnable wires. May they burn in the Boundary for eternity for this unbearable itch! "Four. Is Ada Nirvana or is Nirvana Ada?"

"Yes. " A pause. Taro yipped and Ada pantomimes cooing. Another note.

"Smart ass. "

"You started it. "

"Five. What's up with your eye?" Finally, the question Carl was honestly expecting to be first. Maybe this will end quickly and he can happily scratch his arms until the skin tore.

"I looked into the Cauldron and my Father left me a gift."

"Most parents don't treat potential blindness as a gift. Then again my old man left me in a military base for my birthday and never came back, so what do I know."

"Sounds unpleasant."

"You have no idea. So you gain any weird powers? Shoot lazer beams or X-ray vision? What color is my underwear?"

"A black g-string." The scientist immediately covered her body with her hood and blushed, her ears pointed upwards. She glared at the boy sitting on the hospitall bed who had a clear smirk on his lips. Before she could set her robots to kill the brat Nirvana poked at Kokonoe's side. Looking down at what the puppet was pointing at Kokonoe could see that her underwear was exposed, completely visible to anyone and everyone. The cat coughed into her hand, rolling the lolly in her cheek. Carl's smirk was ever present.

"Pervert."

"Says the woman with her underwear on the outside. " The scientist adjusted her pants slightly. Carl's smirk only seemed to increase in smugness. Finding her modesty properly restored, Kokonoe returned to her examination.

"Alright, so what freaky shit does that gapping hole actually do."

"Why do you care? It's no help to you."

"I'll be the judge of that. Anything that's important to Relius is definitely FUBAR for the rest of us. Best to know what I'm dealing with here so I can either control it or just burn your eye shut."

"...Are you serious?" Silence. A bead of sweat suddenly fell down the young man's cheek. He suddenly wanted his own dog to pet and not this itch that WON'T GO AWAY!

"So, spill."

"Hah...I can see into your soul." Kokonoe responded with a scoff.

"Enough with the snark, brat. Be the good boy Litchi always stresses about and stop giving me crap before I wash your mouth out with soap."

"I'm not joking. Every time I look at anyone I can see inside them, their makeup, the building blocks, the..." The boy paused, his eye wide in a sudden daze as he began to look around the room, his arms going from tight and tense to loose and limp with every turn of his head. His only remaining eye was dilating, a blue glow beginning to pass over it. His empty eye socket began to leak, not blood or tears but a thick black gooze that Kokonoe was very familiar with. Carl's body was beginning to lose motor control, his arms and legs shaking without an iota of visible control, as his his mind began to fall. "Alpha, Omega, Beginning, End. Constant. Always turning, never stopping, starting again. Illusions, shadows, corner of my mind, again. It's waiting, notes and notes, data, forever and ever. Center, center is what you want, find it, find the center. Chase it. C-c-c-chase it..." Ada continued to pet Taro as her brother continued to slip. She never once even tired to move from her spot beside the Professor. Kokonoe made a mental note of that as she spoke to Carl.

"Kid, you hear me?" Carl's ears twitched as he turned to the window, looking at the cat girl as if he had never seen her, or anything like her, ever in his life.

"Hearing, noises, voices, words, language, communication. I hear you."

"Good. You know who I am?"

"Beastkin. Demi-human. Cat, no human, no both, neither, has both yet neither, limitless potential yet limited vessel. Kokonoe."

"You know who you are?" The vigilante looked at his arm and felt a strange sensation. It was uncomfortable and distracting. Was it from these cables? How many cables? There are five around this vessel but more could be hidden. Hiding from him. Lying. The body doesn't lie but the mind can make a fool. His body, his vessel, the sensation. The...itch. Yes. Something small. A small sensation to keep one grounded. Carl's posture relaxed.

"My name is Carl Clover. I'm very itchy. May you please remove these wires?" The ooze remained on Carl's face yet he ignored it entirely. His chest was stained black as a puddle of black tar, seither, dirtied the tiled floor. Kokonoe made a few new observations into her notepad before turning to her patient.

"We're done for today. I'll send a custodian to mop up the lab. We'll get you cleaned up."

"Okay. May I please ask you something, Doctor?" Doctor? Oh, goddammit. "When can I go home? My sister is probably worried sick and Father-"

Kokonoe hit the emergency switch. Carl immediately collapsed onto the bed, unconscious from the sudden injection entering through the "wires". Ada calmly placed Taro on the ground, who proceeded to run around the marionette in a circle, yipping in joy, as Ada looked at Kokonoe with her ever present blank expression.

"Don't look at me like that. He was starting to regress."

"..." Nirvana gave a look that was clearly showed she did not agree with Kokonoe's overzealous methods.

"We'll try again later. God, you Clover's really are a pain in the ass." With a few quick presses, Kokonoe finished her appraisal on her notepad and sent it directly to her data center. "We're going to be here awhile." Kokonoe removed the stick from her lips, the candy already finished.

 **EXAMINATION 10: CARL=CLOVER**  
 **RESULTS: REGRESSION INTO ADOLESCENCE**  
 **FAILURE**

"I need coffee."

* * *

 **Author's Note: Haven't posted in years so I hope this came out alright. Maybe I'll actually get around to finishing something. Hope this was at least interesting. Feel free to review. Thanks for reading.**


	2. Examination 10 POST

Another week had passed since Carl first entered Sector Seven custody. Well, it was more kidnapping then anything but for kidnappers they were pretty accommodating all things considered. He had his own bed to sleep in, books to read and fresh food delivered to his room every morning. Ada even got a room to herself to do with as she pleased. It was almost like staying at a hotel. Of course, hotels let you LEAVE when you want to but it could still be worse. The vigilante was currently watching a rather dull news report. Apparently the Imperator was calling for a mass reconstruction of every Hierarchical City with other improvements to come in the coming months. Literally thousands of new job opportunities had just been opened and all for the benefit of the people. Carl honestly wanted to roll his eyes at the display of "humanitarianism".

"Nobody trust the NOL after all they've done. Trying to use lip service to butter the masses will just create more openings for opportunist to take advantage. Even if you have the money to actually do this it'll just blow up in your face." The report continued, detailing the specific costs, time and manpower it would take to improve every city to an adequate level but Carl simply laid on his bed, tuning out the news anchor attempting to sound interesting. Feeling bored, and uninterested in anything else the idiot box had to offer, Carl decided to try sleeping. Before he could even rest his eyes the current cause of his misery knocked on his door.

"You decent? If not you better get dressed now because I don't care."

"...I'm dressed Professor Kokonoe." Without another word Kokonoe entered Carl's room, as always an ever present lollipop in her mouth and her fingers on a notepad. She stalked over to the young man's bed and immediately stood above him, continuing to push buttons on her notepad without a word. For an entire minute she continued to acknowledge only her notepad and Carl was finding the lack of attention at her sudden intrusion annoying. "Can I help you with something-?"

"Shut up." The young man almost growled. Kokonoe's focus remained on the screen, not once even looking at him. Finally, after another minute, Kokonoe lowered the notepad and looked at her patient. "There."

"So, can I help you? What do you want from me today, Professor?" Without a word, Kokonoe reached for his eye patch and pulled it from his face, observing the hole in his head she seemed so enamored with. Feeling satisfied with whatever she was looking for she pressed the eye patch back in place.

"Well, you're not leaking seither so that's good. I don't see any signs of any infection so I guess you're back to normal."

"Does that mean I can leave?"

"Your normal is still batshit insane so don't kid yourself."

"Joy." Then, again without a word, Kokonoe took his monocle from his face causing the world to become a sudden blur. "Hey! Give that back!" Doing no such thing, Kokonoe removed her glasses and placed the eyepiece over her right eye.

"Hmm, weird."

"Give it back! I can't see!"

"I think you mean can't hear."

"Huh?" Carl stopped his tantrum to stare at the general direction of the Professor's face, trying to read her expression but only seeing a blur. "What do you mean I can't hear?"

"You wear this all the time? Never take it off?"

"Of course. I'm blind without it."

"And this monocle was part of your glasses that got destroyed?"

"Yes." Kokonoe looked around the room, her ears twitching at every turn. Carl could only see the vague outline of something moving in front of him and had no idea what suddenly drew Kokonoe's attention. Giving the room another once over, Kokonoe took off the monocle and returned it to Carl, who quickly put it back in it's proper place. "Whew. Thank you."

"Your Dad give you those?" Carl turned to the scientist, seeing an expression of curiosity on her catty features. Her tails were swaying back and forth and the lollipop was pushed against her cheek. Carl rubbed the rim of his eyeglass, old memories from years past suddenly returning.

"It was a gift. My eyesight started failing when I was little so Father gave me my glasses as a gift."

"Can't imagine Relius being so nice."

"Yes, well, I suppose it was for appearance sake." Carl's gaze turned to the television, an advertisement for the Military Academy playing. "Father was always a fine actor."

"It that why everything in this room is talking to you?" Carl looked to the TV, then to Kokonoe's notepad, then the heater, the light switch, the automatic door, the bed. Carl opened his ears for a moment. The television was first.

"Are you looking at me? Are ya, are ya? Look, look, look! It's fun, right, right? LOOK LOOK LOOK!" So chipper a voice for a television. Then the heater spoke.

"HOT, HOT! So WARM! AH! IT'S SO WARM! Make it HOTTER! YES!" Pyromania. Not the weirdest heater he'd ever met. Then the light switch.

"On, off, on ,off, hahahaha! Dark, light, dark, light, hahahaha!" Dull as dishwater. Then the door.

"So much walking. So tired. I need a nap." The door released a long yawn. "Nighty-night." Snoring was immediately heard. What an odd door. The bed next.

"Don't worry Carl. Just relax, baby. Just lay your cute little head down and sleep. Hey, why not ask Kokonoe to take a nap with you? That wrinkly old kitty could use one. Hehe!" Carl suddenly didn't like this bed much anymore. Finally, the notepad spoke, but not to Carl but the other appliances.

"Will you all stop it? You're clearly causing undue stress to this young man. Please allow Mistress Mercury to properly examine her patient in peace." Immediately the other appliances settled down, the room quiet once again. Kokonoe observed Carl closely, keeping note of any little reaction he showed, tapping the side of her notepad with her lolly. "There we are. Please, address Mistress Kokonoe young man, if you'd be so kind." What a polite notepad. Huh. Carl couldn't find it in him to refuse.

"Your notepad is very nice."

"Really?"

"Yes, she addresses you as Mistress Mercury." Kokonoe immediately raised her notepad in front of her face, perhaps seeing if her notepad would suddenly speak up for itself. The notepad was clearly embarrassed by the sudden attention.

"M-my lady! Please don't stare at me so harshly! You're going to make me blush, mistress." A notepad couldn't blush but did the notepad know that? Was every object in existence actually sentient or did sentence only appear when he wore his monocle. To be fair, Carl stopped asking these questions years ago. There wasn't much point in find an answer to such an idiotic question. Kokonoe lowered the notepad and put it in front of Carl. On the screen Carl saw a rather unexpected sight. It was clearly a win screen, a high score on full display shining brightly, clearly signifying some impressive accomplishment within whatever game the scientist had been playing. Kokonoe waved the notepad in Carl's face, signalling him to take it.

"Poke the screen."

"Uh." Carl held the notepad in his hands, the high score still proudly displayed, the user name 'KittyInPinkS7' currently logged in. Carl pressed the icon labeled 'RETURN TO TITLE SCREEN'. The notepad giggled.

"Well, anything happen? Come on, kid."

"Give me a minute, Professor." Carl was now at the title screen of this video game Kokonoe had apparently been playing. "Nox Nyctorus: The Return of the Beast."

"It's a beat'um up. The notepad doing anything?" Carl pressed the button labelled 'OPTIONS'. The notepad giggled again. He began to poke at random points on the screen, causing the notepad to break out into a laughing fit.

"I believe your notepad is ticklish."

"Seriously?" Kokonoe poked the screen, the notepad's laughter reaching a fever pitch. It wasn't asking to stop so it was apparently enjoying itself. "Huh, who'd a thought." Taking the notepad from Carl, Kokonoe pressed more buttons on the screen, the notepad continuing to laugh as she did whatever she was doing. "I'll start working on it immediately."

"On what?" Carl still had no idea what any of this was about. What was she plotting?

"My own little gift to you. Don't worry, I give the best presents." The cat smile on her face spoke only of disaster in the near future. The catgirl began to take her leave, her tails continuing to sway as she walked. How did she move without bumping her tails into everything? The door opened, causing the door to yawn in protest, as Kokonoe turned to look back at Carl. "Get ready, Clover. The next experiment is going to be a fun one." With a coy smile and a wave Kokonoe left the room, leaving Carl in silence once again.

"Damn it. Why'd you have to remind me?" Though the room was silent, to Carl it was now full of voices, all vying for his attention. He'd blocked out all the voices before but now that he was made aware of them once again the voices were impossible to block.

"Light, Dark, Light, Dark, HAHAHAHA!"

"LOOK! ON THE SCREEN! It's FUN! LOOKY!"

"Can you all keep it down? So tired."

"You want to snuggle Carl? Come on, let's take a long rest. Hehe!"

"HOT! SO HOT!" Carl dropped outo the bed, his head in his hands.

"Stupid cat."

* * *

Kokonoe returned to her office, still fervently poking the notepad. Standing in the center of the room was Nirvana, the puppy Taro happily napping in her arms. Kokonoe quickly removed the stick from her mouth, the candy once again gone, and quickly reached into her jar of lollies and replaced it with a fresh one. Tager was right, she is a silvervine addict. Freaking kitty crack ain't got shit on these suckers.

"I need to cutback. Being high 24/7 isn't doing me any favors."

"..." Nirvana was always so eloquent.

"Yeah, it helps keep me stable. I wouldn't know what I'd do without these things."

"..." Oh, burn.

"Heh, with my metabolism getting fat isn't really a thing. My Mom ate more sweets in a day then I do in a week and all that weight went straight to her tits and ass." Kokonoe rubbed her exposed sides and stomach. "We can't all be so lucky."

"..." Nirvana slightly shook, her claw over her mask as if holding silent laughter.

"Oh yeah? Didn't figure Celica was the type to give a shit about chest size. Then again, when your Sis has boobs the size of beach balls getting a little jealous just seems natural."

"..." Kokonoe liked her talks with Nirvana. A real head on that puppet's shoulders. Tager wasn't much for casual conversation and Lambda was busy helping Noel not ruin her Church with food poisoning. The less said about Bullet the better. But Nirvana was different, there was some actual understanding here. Sure, she looked insane talking to a puppet but screw it, she was insane already so what difference did it make.

"Azrael do anything?" Nirvana immediately pointed to the screen on Kokonoe's desk, showing the Doghouse was still locked up tight with it's rabid meat head sleeping inside. "Good. Any reports from the old bastards?"

"..." Nirvana tilted her head in a pose that implied questioning.

"The Sector Seven old bastards not the NOL old bastards." NOL Old Bastards meant the world was probably getting f-ed. Sector Seven old bastards meant Kokonoe probably needed to build something because someone decided to be an asshole. Either way, she didn't like either option.

"..." Nirvana shook her signifying no.

"Nobody? Huh, that's new." Nobody needed their asses saved today? Kokonoe dropped into her swivel chair and gave a quick stretch. "Welp, guess I got a free day today."

"..." Nirvana appeared to look confused.

"It means I don't gotta do shit." Kokonoe opened an attachment on her notepad and instantaneously her computer monitor switched from Azrael's Doghouse to Carl's cell. It was more a guest room then an actual cell but since the kid was most definitely their prisoner it'd be stupid to call it anything else. On the screen, Carl was currently pacing, angrily scowling at the heater next to his bed. "Guess the voices are getting to him." She smirked at her patient's distress. Nirvana stared intensely at the screen.

"..." The marionette almost seemed heartbroken.

"No, not yet. Let him deal with this alone. If you're there it'll just bring us back to square one."

"..." The puppet tried it's best to show distress, almost appearing to beg.

"Bitch all you want, I'm not letting you in there."

"..." Nirvana lightly scratched Taro's ear with one of her claws, clearly looking for comfort from something. She desperately wanted to help her brother. Kokonoe knew this, of course, but her sympathy wasn't going to change what needed doing.

"If you want him better, if you don't want him running around attacking people at the drop of a hat for accidentally using a trigger word, leave him alone." Kokonoe looked at the Nox Nyctorus for a moment, still finding her scratching the puppy's ear, who began to pant happily, and quietly relented. Calmly, she laid Taro on his dog bed in the corner and stared at the sleeping puppy. Satisfied that Nirvana would listen Kokonoe returned to watching Carl fumble angrily through his room, currently attempting to bury his head in a pillow. "It'll be okay. He'll be fine."

"..." A nod was the only acknowledgement Nirvana gave.

"Don't worry Ada, I know what I'm doing." Nirvana continued to watch Taro as Kokonoe rested her head on her desk, watching the screen until Carl fell asleep before falling asleep herself.

* * *

 **Author's Note: Wanted to get back in the swing of things quickly. Tried to do a better job with descriptions and dialogue. Thanks for the reviews. Only one short chapter and I already feel like I'm getting better. Hopefully I can keep this up. Reviews and critism welcome. Thanks for reading.**


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